How Many Pavers Do I Need? Per Square Foot and Patio Size Charts

Updated October 8, 2026

Divide your patio's area by the area of one paver, then add 10% for cuts and breakage. For standard 4 × 8 inch pavers that's 4.5 pavers per square foot, so a 12 × 12 ft patio needs about 713 pavers. The paver calculator works it out for any size, along with the base and sand.

Pavers per square foot

pavers per sq ft = 144 ÷ (paver width in × paver length in)

Paver size	Type	Per sq ft	Per 100 sq ft
4 × 8 in	Holland / brick	4.50	450
6 × 6 in	Square	4.00	400
6 × 9 in	Rectangle	2.67	267
12 × 12 in	Square slab	1.00	100
16 × 16 in	Patio slab	0.56	56
12 × 24 in	Plank	0.50	50
24 × 24 in	Large slab	0.25	25

Paver sizes are nominal. A "4 × 8" is often 3.9 × 7.9 inches so the joints fit. The bag or pallet label usually prints the exact pieces per square foot; use that number if you have it.

How many pavers for common patio sizes

Counts include 10% extra. Base is 4 inches of compacted gravel for a walking patio; sand is a 1 inch bedding layer in 50 lb bags.

Patio	Sq ft	4 × 8 in	6 × 9 in	16 × 16 in	Base gravel	Sand bags
8 × 8 ft	64	317	188	40	1.3 tons	11
10 × 10 ft	100	495	294	62	2.0 tons	17
10 × 12 ft	120	594	352	75	2.4 tons	20
12 × 12 ft	144	713	423	90	2.9 tons	24
12 × 16 ft	192	951	564	119	3.8 tons	32
16 × 16 ft	256	1,268	751	159	5.1 tons	43
20 × 20 ft	400	1,980	1,174	248	8.0 tons	67

How much waste to add

5%: a simple square or rectangle with large slabs.
10%: most patios and walkways with a running bond or stack pattern.
15%: herringbone, diagonal layouts, or curved edges, which mean many more cuts.

Keep a few spares after the job. Paver colors vary between batches, and matching a cracked one years later is hard.

How many pavers are on a pallet?

It depends on the paver's size and thickness, so there's no single answer. Pallets of standard pavers commonly cover somewhere around 100 to 150 sq ft. Check the coverage on the pallet tag or product page, then divide your area (with waste) by it to see how many pallets to order. Pallets are heavy, often 2,500 lb or more, so plan for delivery.

Don't forget the base

The base matters more than the pavers. Under a walking patio, lay 4 inches of compacted crushed stone (6 inches in cold climates or poor soil, 8 or more for a driveway), then about 1 inch of bedding sand. Crushed stone shrinks as you compact it, so order about 15% more than the finished volume. The gravel calculator converts any base depth to cubic yards and tons. You'll also need polymeric joint sand and edge restraint along any side not held by a wall.